Essential reading for Progressives

Trumpcare Today, Anarchy and Tribalism Tomorrow

Not long ago I wrote that we live in a “Selfish” society. One in which many people don’t want to contribute anything to the public well-being.

Let me take you through an abbreviated process by which we move from a nation of laws to one of lawlessness, hunger, poverty and brutality.

Think about the proposed tax cuts along with slashing budgets for food, healthcare, education & the environment — then consider the definition of SELFISH. “Concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself: seeking or concentrating on one’s own advantage, pleasure, or well-being without regard for others”

Not long ago former Republican Congressman Joe Walsh said, “I don’t feel obligated to pay for someone else’ healthcare.” His statement seems to perfectly describe the Republican White House and Congress.

Walsh’ incredible selfishness ignores what would happen to him if we all felt that way. I could just as easily say, “I don’t feel obligated to pay for his police and fire protection, the roads upon which he drives, the clean water from his tap, the education for his kids and.”..well it goes on and on and on.

In our society we levy taxes and fees for the public good. Without tax dollars could you afford the expense of constructing a road from your home to wherever you wanted to go? Could you afford the expense of building systems that provide running water and sewer lines? Or how about defense in case an enemy decides to bomb your home?

Walsh’s short sighted statement, unfortunately, reflects the thinking of a lot of short sighted people who have neither the capacity nor the interest to see a bigger picture. By refusing to help one another we create a society in which our neighbors may eventually become our enemies. Either we build the road together or we pay for it ourselves and create enemies as we decide who can use it.

Those who demand less and less government and lower and lower taxes will cause everyone but the rich to receive fewer and fewer essential services and infrastructure. Their penchant for less government and nearly absolute individual freedom will, if taken to an extreme, only lead to anarchy and a complete repudiation of the dreams and efforts of the founding fathers.

It would do everyone well to think a little more deeply. Every action has consequences. Isaac Newton’s third law of physics that says, “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction,” is applicable beyond the science for which it was intended. It can be applied to almost everything.

Immediate goals often produce negative and destructive long-term consequences. It’s time our leaders began thinking beyond tomorrow and their election prospects and began to consider the future of the country. Isn’t that what they were elected to do?